In Stitches
by Toccata No. 9
Summary: They aren't made for each other. Oneshot. Harley/Crane.


Disclaimer: You should know this. ;-P

Author's Note: Found a 50 sentence prompt at http:/ community. livejournal. com/ 1fandom/ 300. html, which was handy for staying focused while working on reviews for Scarecrow Contests. Trickier than I expected, but a lot of fun. Might try it again sometime with other pairings/characters. Anyway, please let me know if any stick out. :-)

In Stitches

**01. Move**

She moves, dark like a trickster, to Scarecrow's ear opposite Riddler and whispers "Take the black queen."

**02. Sleep**

Harley lies alone on the couch in his lair and sleeps peacefully.

**03. Inspire **

A smile crawls across Jonathan's face as their victim begins to shriek—leaving Harleen excited, disturbed, or possibly both.

**04. Sweat **

She wakes up in a sweat after dreaming of him and cries.

**05. Lovely **

Most women wouldn't be flattered to have their dress evaluated with an impassive "Nice," but then most women didn't have Scarecrow staring speechless across the room for minutes beforehand.

**06. Breathe **

After she's finally found him, Harleen is a little scared to feel her eyes sting when he falls asleep (breathing, _alive_) against her.

**07. Rough **

It takes a lot of nagging before he lets her try it on, then when she does it itches.

**08. Strike **

The first time Jonathan infuriates her she breaks a table and he walks out.

**09. Help **

Scarecrow isn't like Ivy because when Harleen accepts his help, he doesn't say anything.

**10. Resist **

Joan has an idea of what's going on, but in all their therapy sessions Crane never admits he might be self-destructive.

**11. Meet **

"I thought you were impossible when we first met," he informs her as she so-cheerfully invades his space, "and I haven't changed my mind."

**12. Taut **

When Harley flashes that tight, painfully aware smile Jonathan knows there's something wrong with him.

**13. Thirst **

Much as he hates the metaphor, it truly is like loving a siren as she drowns you.

**14. All **

Pamela only sits with him because beggars can't be choosers.

**15. Fog **

Scarecrow uses fog like a good horror movie, and she tells him so.

**16. Before **

Harley is determined to collaborate on a bank robbery before she leaves.

**17. Hurt **

As she pulls the trigger, Harleen reflects that they really do have a lot in common.

**18. Kind **

Jonathan knows he doesn't fit because Jokers are two of a kind.

**19. Warm **

She delights in making the Scarecrow shiver by breathing on him in a cold room.

**20. Pattern **

"Guys like him destroy girls like you," mutters Ivy, and Harley has a moment of discomfort wondering which J she means.

**21. Cycle **

Jonathan froze when Joker first showed up without her, but then the clown had to inform him "Oh, she's just uh…going through her usual cycle."

**22. Glow **

He thinks Harley Quinn appears inhuman under the glow of an explosion.

**23. Zero **

Part of him wants to scream that he _knows_ this already, but the rest just keeps listening.

**24. Wonder **

They only discuss scars once.

**25. Scold **

"What did I say about inhaling psychotropic hallucinogens?" murmurs Scarecrow, kneeling next to Harley Quinn as she laughs.

**26. Figure **

"You have nothing to be ashamed of."

**27. Then **

They were both doctors once, but it gets hard to remember.

**28. Lie **

She is something Jonathan won't confirm but can't deny.

**29. Hunt **

Scarecrow refuses to adjust the plan just so she can say they'll "inject Batsy from behind".

**30. Mistake **

"I've got no regrets," says Harley in a t-shirt, _in his arms_, and Jonathan catches himself actually believing it.

**31. Birth **

Very few rogues recognize that she wasn't born giggling in greasepaint.

**32. Cut **

"There's a reason why I don't like computers", he declares as Harleen brings his finger (still stinging with paper-cut blood) to her lips.

**33. Double **

What fills Jonathan with horror isn't the fact that it happened, but that he allowed it to happen twice.

**34. Cover **

It's fitting that his first impression of her was a joke.

**35. Lick **

"No, you've gotta slide your tongue _all around it,_" explains Harleen, nearly making him choke on his ice cream.

**36. Wheel **

Jonathan realizes what kind of woman he's been associating with the first time he sees Harley knock someone out in mid-cartwheel.

**37. Slight **

"J and I had the _best_ time messing with Ryder last night Jon, it was hilarious!"

**38. Fling **

Sometimes Jonathan really wants to lose patience and shout at her, but part of the irony in knowing you're just a fling is the fear that it will be confirmed.

**39. Sorry **

"This doesn't make up for the property damage," says Scarecrow as he takes another bite of chocolate cake.

**40. Call **

"Can I stop by your place for a movie tonight?" asks Harley over the phone, and Jonathan wonders if he'll ever actually know her reason.

**41. Jewel **

Prying Harleen from the computer in hysterics, even Crane can't suppress a chuckle upon learning teens obsess over his "icy sapphire orbs".

**42. Fruit **

He suffocates in a swirl of poison and memories and heat, undecided whether she is girl or serpent.

**43. House **

Harley lives with Joker but isn't home.

**44. Swim **

He still won't talk to her about the motorcycle incident.

**45. Family **

It's oddly touching that she wants to throttle his grandmother too.

**46. Interest **

Jonathan has grown accustomed to late night psychology blurred in alcohol and her cheap cigarettes.

**47. Record **

They dance—mismatched in darkness to an unfamiliar song.

**48. Glass **

He gets the call from Nashton, turns on his t.v., and sees her surrounded by glass from a second story window.

**49. Shape **

Scarecrow lets his eyes drift over her silhouette and is unafraid.

**50. Live**

"Well Jonny, do ya think the heart's stronger than the mind or the dick?"


End file.
